LONG BEACH, Calif. — The fans came out in droves Friday for the first day of activity for the 50th Anniversary of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
The drivers in the NTT IndyCar Series appreciated the enthusiasm of what makes the Long Beach Grand Prix the biggest street race in North America.
“One of the great things about being an IndyCar driver is you get to run at Long Beach,” Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden said. “I’m very proud to be part of it as an IndyCar driver and hopefully we have another 50 years of this race in the future.”
Newgarden believes every year, the crowds throughout the weekend keep getting bigger. He also made an interesting observation about the changing dynamic of the crowd.
“It looked like race day today,” Newgarden said. “It was super cool. I think that’s the great thing about motorsports, though, right now. There’s an excitement. There’s a cool factor to it. If you just want to talk about trends, I think motorsports is a trend right now, especially with young people, and it’s really fun to see that. You’re just seeing this resurgence.
“It has been unique to see over the last two years the amount of kids that I see at the race track that are bringing their parents. It’s not the other way around. I meet parents that are my age and they’re going, ‘I know nothing about this, but my six-year-old loves it and loves you and loves IndyCar.’ It used to be the other way around. It was, hey, whatever, I used to love IndyCar back in the ’80s and now I’m here and I’m trying to bring my kids. But it’s the other way; the kids are bringing the parents.
“It’s very, very cool to be a part of. I think we can continue that and grow it and we’re in a really good position to do it, so it’s just a fun time to be a part of motorsports.”
There was only one red flag in Friday’s practice session, when Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing rookie Louie Foster stopped in the runoff with five minutes left in the session.
When the checkered flag waved five minutes later, Team Penske’s Will Power was the fastest driver at 1:07.3227 around the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street circuit in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet. That was a lap speed of 105.236 miles per hour.
Marcus Ericsson’s No. 28 Honda was second at 1:07.3503 (105.193 mph) for Andretti Global followed by teammate Kyle Kirkwood’s No. 27 Honda at 1:07.3523 (105.190 mph).
“Very good start,” Ericsson said. “I’ve been looking forward to this race a lot. I always do. It’s one of the highlights of the season for sure. With Andretti, as well, with the history they have in this race, we expect to be up there fighting for the win, and to start it like this is the best way to do that.
“We just have a really good setup in general to work with, and the team does a really good job preparing the cars and giving us drivers cars that we feel confidence in to drive because that’s all — street course racing is so much about that confidence. It’s being close to those walls and having the confidence to push to the limit.
“Andretti does a really good job with that, so that makes it a pleasure to drive.
“I feel like I’ve been close here a few times, and I always feel like I’m really fast here. I still have that box to tick to win here, but that’s why we’re here this weekend, and like I said, I love driving here.”
Meyer-Shank Racing driver Marcus Armstrong was fourth at 1:07.3602 (105.178 mph) in the No. 66 Honda followed by teammate Felix Rosenqvist’s No. 60 Honda at 1:07.5191 (105.135 mph).
Newgarden was sixth at 1:07.5191 (104.930 mph) in the No. 2 Chevrolet.
Alex Palou, who has won the first two IndyCar Series races of the 2025 season, was seventh at 1:07.5306 (104.912 mph).
In the last NTT IndyCar Series race, none of the three Team Penske drivers advanced out of the first round of knockout qualifications at The Thermal Club.
“Thermal was a disaster as far as Team Penske,” Newgarden said. “We had a tough weekend. The good thing is we’re just getting going, though. A lot of people have been asking about how is the year, and we’re two races in. We had an excellent St. Pete. Our cars were in a good window. Team did a great job.
“Then Thermal was the complete opposite. We were just sort of nowhere.
“I think we sort of found our way toward the end, back half of the way. We diverged between the race cars, and I think we found a direction. So that would be the answer to — going back in the future, I think we have a direction to come back with. So yeah, we can’t erase what happened. We can’t go back.
“It was a tough weekend. Just did not go very well. But I don’t think it’s an indicator of the rest of the year in a lot of ways.”
New to this year’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is the hybrid system, which did not become part of the NTT IndyCar Series until the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on Independence Day Weekend in 2024.
IndyCar also extended the race distance from 85 laps to 90 this year.
“With the hybrid, a lot more weight, a tire that degrades more and then a longer race that it will be trickier,” six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing said.
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